Myrtle Flower Facts: Meaning, Symbolism & Importance

About Myrtus (Myrtle) and Myrtle Flower

For the main belt asteroid, see 9203 Myrtus.

Myrtus, with the common name myrtle, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae, described by Swedish botanist Linnaeus in 1753.

Over 600 names have been proposed in the genus, but nearly all have either been moved to other genera or been regarded as synonyms. The genus Myrtus has three species recognised today:

• Myrtus communis – Common myrtle; native to the Mediterranean region in southern Europe
• Myrtus nivellei – Saharan myrtle; native to North Africa
• Myrtus phyllireaefolia

Description

Common myrtle

Myrtus communis, the “common myrtle”, is native across the Mediterranean region, Macaronesia, western Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is also cultivated.

The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree, growing to 5 metres (16 ft) tall. The leaf is entire, 3–5 cm long, with a fragrant essential oil.

The star-like flower has five petals and sepals, and numerous stamens. Petals usually are white. The flower is pollinated by insects.

The fruit is a round berry containing several seeds, most commonly blue-black in colour. A variety with yellow-amber berries is also present. The seeds are dispersed by birds that eat the berries.

Saharan myrtle

Myrtus nivellei, the Saharan myrtle, (Tuareg language: tefeltest), is endemic to the mountains of the central Sahara Desert. It is found in a restricted range in the Tassili n’Ajjer Mountains in southern Algeria, and the Tibesti Mountains in northern Chad.

It occurs in small areas of sparse relict woodland at montane elevations above the central Saharan desert plains.

It is a traditional medicinal plant for the Tuareg people.

Fossil record

250 fossil seeds of †Myrtus palaeocommunis have been described from middle Miocene strata of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland, Denmark.

Uses

Gardening

Myrtus communis is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant for use as a shrub in gardens and parks. It is often used as a hedge plant, with its small leaves shearing cleanly.

When trimmed less frequently, it has numerous flowers in late summer. It requires a long hot summer to produce its flowers, and protection from winter frosts.

The species and the subspecies M. communis subsp. tarentina have gained the Royal Horticultural Society‘s Award of Garden Merit.

Culinary

Myrtus communis is used in the islands of Sardinia and Corsica to produce an aromatic liqueur called Mirto by macerating it in alcohol. Mirto is one of the most typical drinks of Sardinia and comes in two varieties: mirto rosso (red) produced by macerating the berries, and mirto bianco (white) produced from the less common yellow berries and sometimes the leaves.

Many Mediterranean pork dishes include myrtle berries, and roasted piglet is often stuffed with myrtle sprigs in the belly cavity, to impart an aromatic flavour to the meat.

The berries, whole or ground, have been used as a pepper substitute. They contribute to the distinctive flavor of Mortadella sausage and the related American Bologna sausage.

In Calabria, a myrtle branch is threaded through dried figs and then baked. The figs acquire a pleasant taste from the essential oils of the herb. They are then enjoyed through the winter months.

Medicinal

Myrtle, along with willow tree bark, occupies a prominent place in the writings of Hippocrates, Pliny, Dioscorides, Galen, and the Arabian writers. It has been prescribed for fever and pain by ancient physicians since at least 2,500 BC in Sumer.

Myrtle’s effects are due to high levels of salicylic acid, a compound related to aspirin and the basis of the modern class of drugs known as NSAIDs.^{[citation needed]}

In several countries, particularly in Europe and China, there has been a tradition for prescribing this substance for sinus infections. A systematic review of herbal medicines used for the treatment of rhinosinusitis concluded that the evidence that any herbal medicines are beneficial in the treatment of rhinosinusitis is limited, and that for Myrtus there is insufficient data to verify the significance of clinical results.

In myth and ritual

Classical

In Greek mythology and ritual the myrtle was sacred to the goddesses Aphrodite and also Demeter: Artemidorus asserts that in interpreting dreams “a myrtle garland signifies the same as an olive garland, except that it is especially auspicious for farmers because of Demeter and for women because of Aphrodite. For the plant is sacred to both goddesses.” 

Pausanias explains that one of the Graces in the sanctuary at Elis holds a myrtle branch because “the rose and the myrtle are sacred to Aphrodite and connected with the story of Adonis, while the Graces are of all deities the nearest related to Aphrodite.” Myrtle is the garland of Iacchus, according to Aristophanes, and of the victors at the Theban Iolaea, held in honour of the Theban hero Iolaus.

In Rome, Virgil explains that “the poplar is most dear to Alcides, the vine to Bacchus, the myrtle to lovely Venus, and his own laurel to Phoebus.” At the Veneralia, women bathed wearing crowns woven of myrtle branches, and myrtle was used in wedding rituals. In the Aeneid, myrtle marks the grave of the murdered Polydorus in Thrace. Aeneas‘ attempts to uproot the shrub cause the ground to bleed, and the voice of the dead Polydorus warns him to leave. The spears which impaled Polydorus have been magically transformed into the myrtle which marks his grave.

Jewish

In Jewish liturgy, the myrtle is one of the four sacred plants (Four Species) of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles representing the different types of personality making up the community. The myrtle having fragrance but not pleasant taste, represents those who have good deeds to their credit despite not having knowledge from Torah study. The three branches are lashed or braided together by the worshipers a palm leaf, a willow bough, and a myrtle branch.

The etrog or citron is the fruit held in the other hand as part of the lulav wave ritual. In Jewish mysticism, the myrtle represents the phallic , masculine force at work in the universe. For this reason myrtle branches were sometimes given the bridegroom as he entered the nuptial chamber after a wedding (Tos. Sotah 15:8; Ketubot 17a). Myrtles are both the symbol and scent of Eden (BhM II: 52; Sefer ha-Hezyonot 17). The Hechalot text Merkavah Rabbah requires one to suck on a myrtle leaves as an element of a theurgic ritual.

Kabbalists link myrtle to the sefirah of Tiferet and use sprigs in their Shabbat (especially Havdalah) rites to draw down its harmonizing power as the week is initiated (Shab. 33a; Zohar Chadash, SoS, 64d; Sha’ar ha-Kavvanot, 2, pp. 73–76). Myrtle leaves were added to the water in the last (7th) rinsing of the head in the traditional Sephardic tahara manual (teaching the ritual for washing the dead). Myrtles are often used to recite a blessing over a fragrant plant during the Havdalah ceremony, as well as before Kiddush is some Sefardic and Hasidic traditions.

Mandaean

In the Mandaean religion, myrtle wreaths (klila) are used by priests in important religious rituals and ceremonies, such as baptism and death masses (masiqta). Myrtle wreaths also form part of the darfash, the official symbol of Mandaeism consisting of an olive wooden cross covered with a white silk cloth.

Contemporary

In neo-pagan and wicca rituals, myrtle, though not indigenous beyond the Mediterranean Basin, is now commonly associated with and sacred to Beltane (May Day).

Myrtle in a wedding bouquet is a general European custom.

A sprig of myrtle from Queen Victoria‘s wedding bouquet was planted as a slip, and sprigs from it have continually been included in royal wedding bouquets.

Garden history

Rome

Because of its elegance of habit, appealing odour, and amenity to clipping by the topiarius, as much as for sacred associations, the myrtle was an indispensable feature of Roman gardens. As a reminder of home, it will have been introduced wherever Roman elites were settled, even in areas of the Mediterranean Basin where it was not already endemic: “the Romans… must surely have attempted to establish a shrub so closely associated with their mythology and tradition,” observes Alice Coats. In Gaul and Britannia it will not have proved hardy.

England

In England it was reintroduced in the 16th century, traditionally with the return from Spain in 1585 of Sir Walter Raleigh, who also brought with him the first orange trees seen in England. Myrtus communis will have needed similar protection from winter cold and wet. Alice Coats notes an earlier testimony: in 1562 Queen Elizabeth I‘s great minister Lord Burghley wrote to Mr Windebank in Paris to ask him for a lemon, a pomegranate and a myrtle, with instructions for their culture—which suggests that the myrtle, like the others, was not yet familiar.

By 1597 John Gerard lists six varieties being grown in southern England, and by 1640 John Parkinson noted a double-flowering one. Alice Coats suggests that this was the very same double that the diarist and gardener John Evelyn noted “was first discovered by the incomparable Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, which a mule had cropt from a wild shrub.”

In the late 17th and early 18th centuries myrtles in cases, pots and tubs were brought out to summer in the garden and wintered with other tender greens in an orangery. Fairchild, The City Gardener (1722) notes their temporary use, rented from a nurseryman annually to fill an empty fireplace in the warm months.

With the influx to England of more dramatic tender plants and shrubs from Japan or Peru in the 19th century, it was more difficult to find room for the common myrtle of borderline hardiness.

Myrtle is a breed with more than 600 varieties of love and marriage flowers.

With the Myrtaceae family, Myrtle produces white star-like flowers with oval-shaped petals.

Sturgeon is used in wedding ceremonies, Valentine’s Day celebrations and love connections because of its well-known symbols of good luck for marriage, prosperity and chastity. (Myrtle Flower)

Myrtle Flower Meaning

The myrtle meaning has been meaningfully associated with the innocence, purity, good luck and prosperity revered by many ancient cultures. However, the flower is considered a single symbol, which is love. (Myrtle Flower)

1. Good Luck In Marriages

Another name for the common myrtle flower is buttercup, as it is widely used in weddings.

The myrtle bouquet given to the newlyweds symbolizes good luck in their life, marital fidelity and love between the couple.

Therefore, it is widely used by royal families. At Prince Harry’s wedding, Meghan Markel wore a white Myrtle flower bouquet. (Myrtle Flower)

Just like the royal wedding, it is also used in thousands of other marriages. (Myrtle Flower)

2. Prosperity

For a long time, myrtle, like the money plant, was believed to bring wealth and prosperity if grown at home. (Myrtle Flower)

3. Chastity

Myrtle symbolizes chastity, sincerity, love and loyalty. Used by couples means that they will be faithful to each other in all matters. (Myrtle Flower)

4. Love:

The connection of myrtle with love is not so new, as traces meet in Greek orthodox cultures, where the myrtle plant symbolizes pure and innocent feelings of love.

You can still see the use of this flower in honeymoon occasions and in celebration of love days. (Myrtle Flower)

Myrtle Flower symbolism

It is a symbol of peace and love in Greek and Roman mythologies.

While the Bible symbolizes it as celebration and happiness, in Judaism it symbolizes justice, sweetness, divine generosity and peace.

Ancient Greek and Roman Mythologies

The Greeks and Romans named this flower Myrtos and Myrtus, respectively.

According to Greek mythology, the nymph Daphne disguised as a myrtle to distract Apollo.

Mersin was considered a symbol of love, peace, a happy marriage and was sacred to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

Also in the past, the winners at the end of each Olympiad were crowned with wreaths of myrtle.

At Easter times, myrtle was also scattered on church floors, and poets and playwrights in Rome were honored with myrtle wreaths.

Even one of the titles of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, was Venus Murcia (land of myrtle), representing the importance of this plant to them. (Myrtle Flower)

In the Bible Scripture

In the Bible, myrtle is symbolized as a sign of celebration and happiness.

The first reference is found in Nehemiah 8:15, where on the Feast of the Tabernacle people were asked to gather wood from trees, including myrtle, to build a booth.

Another reference is in Zechariah 1:8-11, where a man is depicted standing among the myrtle trees and enjoying the beauty of nature. (Myrtle Flower)

In Judaism

In Judaism, Myrtle is called Hadassah, a sacred herb among three other herbs, on the Feast of the Booth in 445 BC.

Myrtle is used as a metaphor of truth because of its scent that spreads around it.

In the Royal Families of Britain

According to Queen Victoria’s diary, her husband, Prince Albert, oversaw the royal garden for transplanting myrtles.

Since then, the myrtle is considered the royal flower given to queens and princesses. For this reason, it is also called Victoria’s myrtle flower.

Sturgeon is still a hot use at royal weddings, such as the wedding of Prince William and Prince Harry. (Myrtle Flower)

Myrtle Flower’s Meaning for Different Colors:

The color in a flower is not just a variation of nature, but a completely different meaning. For example, dahlia black has a different meaning than dahlia red.

Here,

The common white myrtle flower color symbolizes chastity. (Myrtle Flower)

Other colors are:

• Purple Myrtle Meaning:

Purple Myrtle is a symbol of royalty, beauty, power and prosperity. You can give it to your mother, teachers, or someone you respect with all your heart.

• Fuchsia Myrtle Meaning:

Fuchsia is the color of women and hence the fuchsia myrtle flower. It symbolizes femininity and gives a perfect feast for the woman you love.

• Pink Myrtle Meaning:

Pink is soft and hence its meaning is related to kindness, love, romance and of course feminism. The perfect gift for anyone you love! (Myrtle Flower)

Common Myrtle Flower Pictures:

Meaningful Benefits of Myrtle Flower in Life:

Uses:

• It is famous for its use as a massage oil.
• Myrtle oil is used in medicines and skin treatment.
• Used to flavor certain recipes such as meat sauces
• Use in perfumes and toilet water
• Used in bath water due to its astringent qualities

Benefits:

• Improves Skin
• Improves the Respiratory System
• antidepressant
• Helps Fight Diabetes
• Helps Prevent HPV Disease

Precautions

• Always use myrtle oil after dilution.
• Oral consumption of myrtle oil is not considered safe.
• Avoid contact with eyes
• It should never be used in children

General Botanical Facts of Myrtle Flower:

1. FLOWERS

Common Myrtle has white flowers.

Crepe myrtle flowers are pinkish to red.

While wax myrtle flowers are not like ordinary flowers; they can be better described as hanging green berry instead. (Myrtle Flower)

2. LEAVES

Ordinary Myrtle has oval leaves 3-5 cm long.

Crepe Myrtle’s leaves are not that long; instead, they look more like orange.

Very different from these two, Wax Myrtle leaves are 2-4 inches long and ½ inch wide.

3. USAGE

In addition to the ornamental and medicinal uses of all three myrtles, Beeswax Myrtle is used to make candles as the wax is extracted from the berries. (Myrtle Flower)

4. RITUAL IMPORTANCE.

All myrtles are considered a sign of good luck and prosperity. Therefore, it is presented on marriages.

Conclusion

All this was about the myrtle flower, its meaning, symbolism and significance. Are you planning to buy myrtle flower? Let us know in the comment below.

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